Existential Depressions

Pre-College Issues High School Life
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<p>^ This is my biggest problem with the idea of a supposed “higher entity” although I don’t necessarily believe that one doesn’t exist. I just feel that it is impossible to ever really know about the existence of a god and even then I don’t understand why I should automatically trust that he (or she although the entire concept of a god being of a particular gender doesn’t make much sense) has my best interests at heart.</p>

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<p>Oh cool, a philosophy thread derailed into a religion thread. No, no, carry on, everyone.</p>

<p>As for me, I justify existence by the fact that biologically, our only purpose is to survive and pass on our genes. Of course, as thinking beings, we expand on that purpose. At the scientific core, however, we are organisms who should try to remain true to this principle.</p>

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<p>I didn’t know what existential depression was until I read the thread, but I think I had this “death=gone” phase in middle school. I was quite upset that my parents would one day kick the bucket, but somehow I got over it… That time was also the period I got into anime/manga (if it helps, lol.) Currently, I feel that the biggest impact you can make as an individual is to get something in the textbooks named after you. Because there’s a fat chance that only one person, and hence one name, will discover the cure to cancer or totally scrap Newton’s laws or brainwash everyone in the world to forget George Washington, I’ve contented myself with trying to do everything I ever possibly wanted before death. Like see the rain forest, go to a top college, etc. Anyways, you should occupy your minds with something else, like the books people suggested, religion(s) or lack thereof, etc. After all, the world ends in 2012, right? :P</p>

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<p>I used to ponder death quite a lot in middle school. It felt odd to think, like Lanayru said, that my parents could leave me any moment now. Poof, dead. And the same would apply to me. I used to dwell on the depressing thought that my life, and the lives of people dearest to me, could be left unfulfilled. The potential we had was never properly used. I did get over that. The main motivating factor was the idea that since life’s length is so uncertain, it’d be the best to try to apply your potential where you can, spend as much time as possible with the people you’d rather spend time with, indulge in the aspects of life you truly love, et cetera. Life is a whiteboard for you to draw upon. Spending too much time on thinking about what to draw or how to draw it will do you no good. Just my random thought for the night.</p>

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<p>Eh, I was reacting to what I felt was a post that didn’t even try to take religion’s point of view in light of those criticisms. I don’t even think I got to finish my post, since I hit “Quick Reply” too early, then never got to make the rest of my points (friends dragged me away). But it’s whatever.</p>

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<p>But I think you’re oversimplifying these stories. They’re rife with mythological meaning and theological value. Treat them like a work of literature, and they become incredibly valuable. Definitely not something to dismiss if you’re into reading and learning about humanity. There’s also historical, ethnographic, political, and liturgic significance to be found. To bring this back to the discussion of existentialism, the theme of identity is among the most prominent in the Hebrew Bible–integral to Judaism–so I think you can root out a lot of existential value too.</p>

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<p>You’re right. I didn’t try to take religion’s point view. I see that. The problem is that I just can’t see it. I honestly can’t play devil’s advocate. I know that’s a weakness of mine. But I hesitate to bring these questions up because I know that religion is sacred to so many people and I don’t want to be offensive. I have read a lot about it though, but haven’t found any satisfactory answers. If you can direct me to some, I would gladly read it. </p>

<p>I completely agree with the second half of your post. I do see the bible a a great work of literature. I do see it as a sign of what was going on, both culturally and politically, at that time period. I just don’t see it as a book of truth, even symbolically.</p>

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<p>The oversimplification was meant to express that religion serves to explain things that are mysterious/unknown. It was not meant to devalue the great literature/mythology found in many religions (hey, I love Greek/Roman mythology!). I guess a little bit of atheist snide may have slipped in there, though. Anyway, while I do find some of the Bible’s stories to be quite beautiful, I find the book, as a whole, hard to take seriously as a life-governing text.</p>

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<p>I. How many of you have had an existential depression?</p>

<p>Yes, I’ve had it. </p>

<p>II. What was its nature?</p>

<p>At a certain point in my life, I saw no significance in earning “good grades” or even going to a “good college” because I honestly believed there was no point in these endeavors. After all, when I die, everything ends, right? Nothing seemed to matter to me anymore. I also became cynical and grew to hate God (if He existed) for allowing everything in the world to become so . . . wrong.</p>

<p>As you might imagine, my high school career spiraled downhill. </p>

<p>III. How did you deal with it?</p>

<p>To overcome this angst, I tried to search for truth because, as alwaysleah mentioned, I saw too many contradictions in Christianity. Isn’t the Christian God supposed to be loving? I couldn’t see that especially with the sorry state of the world. </p>

<p>Ah, but my life’s story is much too long to be posted at this time. I’ve omitted many, many details (not that I clearly remember everything), but I will say this: I have found a truth that is truth for me (paraphrasing Kierkegaard), and in search of this truth, I have found life in Christ and am now happier than ever before. </p>

<p>Oh, and small note: my high school career is no longer in the dumps. :-)</p>

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<p>when i was a freshman in hs i sort of had an adolescent crisis where i ended up thinking about death and aging a whole lot(this was perhaps because i didn’t transition into hs smoothly - my whole life before then had been (cue generalization) immersive and fun, and i had been caught in this never ending loop of social reward)). </p>

<p>somehow i got to wondering, and being the tiniest bit curious about, what my body was and how it worked. So i read a lot of wikipedia biology, and slowly things started to make more sense, which was fun, and it became a bit like this private journey of self discovery.</p>

<p>the end results were that it enriched how i saw the world around me, made things magnitudes more interesting and beautiful and precious to me - and all of that made me a happier person; it showed me there was more, much more, things to marvel about and people to understand, which i had never been aware of before.</p>

<p>In addition it also gave me potential cause, something to do with my life, which was to contribute to the human life-extension movement.</p>

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<p>It seems to me that based on the posts in this thread and my own experiences, “existential depressions” are almost like psychological bumps in the road that lead way for positive epiphanies and matured outlooks on life. It’s almost like a critical rite-of-passage that results in some form of betterment for the individual.</p>

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<p>OK, I think there’s a bit of a problem with the way the word “religion” is being used here. or rather, the perception of religion. a lot of you are saying that you don’t believe in God, because you find contradictions in religion. but… it may sound like an oxymoron in today’s society, but why do you need a specific religion to believe in God? you find contradictions in Christianity. alright. but then why would that prompt you to believe everything in the bible is false? I understand that it might lead you to question the source, but can’t you still find your own beliefs. why does someone have to copy beliefs which are already present. you believe something because you think it’s true. handpicking the sets of beliefs presented to you seems a bit limited.</p>

<p>also, Christianity isn’t the only religion. there are probably hundreds. Christianity in no way represents religion as a whole. an aspect of Christianity may not be contained in every (or any) other religion.</p>

<p>sorry, I know that was a bit of a rant. and I’m sorry if I offended anyone (if I did, please point it out. I don’t see anything offensive with what I wrote, so if you let me know I’ll remember not to do it again).</p>

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<p>No that wasn’t offensive. </p>

<p>Why do I find the whole bible false? First of all, it’s not all false. It depicts acts of its time–mysogyny, slavery, homophobia, etc. I do not see how a god could tell someone to write this in a sacred book. If this is truly “God’s word,” then I find God pretty effed up to be honest. I can’t justify picking random, good parts of the bible and ignoring it’s truly offensive parts. Second of all, these men clearly used the bible to gain power. And they did. The bible is a tool. Religion is a tool. Powerful leaders have used it time and time again to get others to submit to their authority. </p>

<p>Honestly, there are contradictions in every religion I have encountered–Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism. No, I haven’t searched through other religions. To be honest, it seems like a waste of time for me to go and try to disprove more religions. </p>

<p>As a whole, I find religion a little silly. I find it hard to believe that there is a “big man in the sky” or really any other extrasensory governing force because it doesn’t make sense. I’m a rational person, and I find religion to be largely an emotional experience. Why don’t I just make up my own religion, etc.? Because if there is some great force, it hasn’t made itself known to me. I don’t feel a god, no god has ever “spoken to me” the way He apparently does to others. I think that people talking to a god are just talking to themselves, quite honestly. </p>

<p>I said this earlier, but if there really is a god/gods, then when I die and if these governing forces are going to judge me, they will see that I am moral, and that I lived my life well. If that isn’t good enough for them, if they truly wanted me to blindly follow them without any proof, then I find them to be scarily dictator-like and would not want to be in their “heaven.”</p>

<p>Look at where religion came from. It was created to explain the unknown. We are consistently finding explanations for these unknowns scientifically, so why would a trust something without proof when the proof for so many things is right in front of me? </p>

<p>I don’t think religion as a whole is bad. The ten commandments and all that stuff are fine and all (though I do find it ridiculous that people actually need those rules written down and don’t just reason them out themselves). I just continually see religion as a force of hate, at least in my personal experience, which is of course a small and biased sample size. </p>

<p>Again, not trying to offend anyone. Please tell me if I did. I’m truly sorry if this is offensive. If you are religious, then good for you. It must be nice not to have to ponder the end of existence, and you clearly exhibit admirable loyal, trusting characteristics. The only time I have trouble with other religion is when it imposes on the rights of others.</p>

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<p>Alwaysleah I love your posts :D</p>

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<p>You keep saying this, and then go and call religion “silly” and say it’s a waste of your time to research religions other than the ones in your immediate frame of knowledge. Like, that’s really dismissive and insulting. No, no one’s expecting you to become an expert on all religions before you go about criticizing the institution, but it’s hypocritical of someone praising science’s pursuit of knowledge to actively avoid what studying countless systems of thought have had to contribute.</p>

<p>EDIT: Your post is riddled with Judeo-Christian assumptions about religion, God, the afterlife, etc. (e.g. judgment, even the existence of an afterlife, anthropomorphic and interactive god). This is where education would come in handy.</p>

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<p>I think alwaysleah makes some fair points that you refuse to recognize, Francaisalamatt. Religion, not just those with Abrahamic backgrounds, places a blanket answer on questions we currently aren’t fully capable of answering. This “blanket answer”, no matter your convictions, can’t be considered fully indisputable. It’s farce to blindly believe in the word of religion, not because religion is full of crap, but because there’s no tangible evidence that can back up its assertions. The great thing about science is that even though it can’t provide an answer covering all divine questions up front, it’s a developing branch of human thought and discovery that can answer certain questions at a time with concrete, tangible evidence. That’s what distinguishes it from religion. While I’m not decrying religion in any way (because I have no legitimate evidence to <em>fully</em> disprove it), the praise being received by science is well deserved because it’s the only initiative that, though slowly but surely, is backing up its claims with tangible evidence that is factually indisputable (while also creating new advances in the way we can apply our new found knowledge). In the past, religion (in some cases) acted as an institution that was a catalyst for human innovation, but as time goes on, it has become clearer and clearer that rather than fostering natural human inquisition and the human race’s pursuit for knowledge, the modern institution of religion seems to have put its fingers in its ears and started recitation of religious jargon (while ignoring any incompatible rhetoric in the process). Religion in the West is an aging institution that promotes the idea of biding by age-old principles that may or may not be compatible with our time period rather than acting as an entity that promotes human progression in the field of heuristics and knowledge.</p>

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<p>@stressedouttt @alwaysleah As a Christian, I don’t find your posts offensive, and as far as I’m concerned, you folks need not qualify your opinions about religion with apologies every time.</p>

<p>Your posts contain valid questions and arguments, and believe it or not, I held similar views before. I’m sorry I’m not more verbally competent that I can’t present my opinions at this time. </p>

<p>@GrammerNazi I agree with your statement. Those who have answered the original questions about existential crises seem better off now, which is fortunate! Others may not have been so lucky.</p>

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<p>I mean, she asked if anyone was offended by what she said, and I responded with some contradictions in her statements. I don’t think any of the things I’ve said are false (dur xP).</p>

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<p>It’s a farce to blindly believe in anything. I for one made the very conscious choice to believe in God after struggling with the issue for months. </p>

<p>I feel like a disagreement underlying this discussion is our different conceptions of truth. Classical Western thought places truth as a singular and unique concept “outside” of us (as in, we don’t look within for truth, we look to the world). Hence our strong emphasis on rational, empirical knowledge. But I approach religion and science not as two diametrically opposed, mutually exclusive choices, but rather as two alternatives which work better in some situations versus others. A gross oversimplification of how this applies in my head is that science explains material reality and religion explains non-material reality (transcendental aspects, love/emotion, concepts like justice, existence, self, etc.). So, science and religion become two EQUAL frameworks for truth, choice of which is inherently morally ambiguous (depends on what you do with that belief). This is why I find expressions like “disproving religion” silly. How can you “disprove” someone’s emotional experience?</p>

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<p>How Romantic, Francaisalamatt. Someone like myself would say that non-material does not exist, as our brains are merely brains and there is no soul. So our emotional experiences, though seemingly intangible, are caused by measurable events.</p>

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<p>This is why I find expressions like “disproving religion” silly. How can you “disprove” someone’s emotional experience?</p>

<p>Francaisalamatt, I think the “disproving” comes from gathering (or discovering) evidence or information that refutes the supposed “rules” of a specific religion, not so much the individual experience of any particular follower or believer.</p>

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<p>Disapproving an emotional experience is far from what I’m instigating. Enjoyment in an activity differs from the activity itself. It’s a small, but integral, distinction. I hold relatively Humanist principles, and I can easily argue that I share similar emotional experiences with my love for science, philosophy, and other various human innovations. I’m just adding to the discussion that the basis of this aforementioned emotional experience of yours is considerably weaker (if viewed through a logical perspective) compared to, say, my secular base of belief. Emotional experiences are lovely, sure. But you’re just comparing apples and oranges now.</p>